Search Engines are used to find information on the World Wide Web.
There are many search engines available to users.
For a quick overview of some of the most popular search engines go to Jamestown Elementary Website.
For a more extensive reference for choosing the best search engine for your needed information visit Debbie Abalock’s site.
For a list of education-related search engines visit Linda Burkhart’s site.
Boolean Searches:
Every search engine has a different method for advanced searching. In Google, for example, you put quotations around phrases. Google assumes you only want pages that have every word that was listed in your search. Yahoo, on the other hand, assumes you want pages that contain at least 1 word from your search. In order to get a page with every word or phrase you must put a plus sign in front of the word.
In general, phrases should go in quotation marks, words or phrases that must appear in the phrase should have a plus sign before them, and words that you do not want on the page should have a minus sign in front.
Most search engines will provide help on using these “Boolean” search methods. The help is usually under a link called “Advanced Search”
My Own Personal Preferences:
If I’ve overwhelmed you with all these search engines and you just don’t know where to begin, let me give you my own personal preferences. By no means am I inferring that these are the best ones to use, just the ones I am most accustomed to:
Google: This is the engine I use most. It can find just about anything!
Yahoo: When using a search engine for school uses (ex. lesson plan ideas) I use Yahoo. It seems to be more school-oriented than Google.
Go2Net: I use this engine when I want to conduct just a simple, basic search.
When You Feel Confident Using Search Engines…
Cathy Cranston has developed a treasure hunt for her Introduction to the Internet course at Central College in Pella, IA. Try it out and see how well you do.
